- Gainesville finished 20-9 in 2025, won their third straight Class 5A-District 5 title, and seek their first state volleyball title since 2004.
- Buchholz had a 20-6 season in 2025, won its first district title in six years, and is led by new coach Amanda Falck after Andre Medina stepped down.
- GHS lost to Buchholz 3-1 in its recent match on Wednesday and aims to split games in the season series on Oct. 7 to improve playoff ranking.
Last year, the Gainesville volleyball team made a run all the way to the FHSAA Class 5A state semifinals. It was their first final four in 14 years.
GHS, which is seeking its first state title since 2004, finished 20-9 and won the Class 5A-District 5 title, which was their third straight district crown.
Buchholz had its best season in six years. The Bobcats finished 20-6, winning a district title and a first-round playoff game.
However, head coach Andre Medina stepped down at the end of last season, and Amanda Falck took over this year.
Both teams have played a challenging schedule, including a head-to-head meeting this past Wednesday night. The host Bobcats defeated rival GHS, 3-1, at Bud Seymour Gymnasium.
“I feel like coming into this season with a new coach, like we were ready; it was something new,” said Buchholz junior outside hitter Aubrey Waters, who had a team-best 12 kills against GHS. “Last season, we went far in the playoffs, so we knew coming into this season we had high expectations. Our ultimate goal for this season is to win states, and I feel like every day in practice, every game, we just have that goal, and every touch we make is a step in that direction.”
It was the third straight loss for the Hurricanes and their sixth in their last seven games, including a 1-4 record at the Florida Gem Tournament at Wiregrass Ranch (Wesley Chapel).
Last Friday, GHS lost to The First Academy (Orlando), the No. 3 overall team in Florida, 3A No. 10 Academy of the Holy Names (Tampa) and Clearwater Central Catholic. On Saturday, they defeated Vero Beach but lost to Metairie Park Country Day, which is ranked 12th overall in Louisiana.
They were swept at The Rock School on Tuesday and the ‘Canes were dominated in the first two sets against Buchholz.
“We were in a rut yesterday (against The Rock),” GHS coach Jerica Carter-Mitchell said after the loss to the Bobcats. “And I think it came from this weekend, just playing really good competition. We were competing. We got in the 20s a lot, but we couldn’t pull out a set except when we played Vero. So, I think it’s just going 1-4 that weekend, and then it’s just hard to come back this week and actually play good competition.”
GHS, which is ranked No. 90 overall in Florida, will have a chance to even the season series with a home game against Buchholz on Wednesday, Oct. 7.
“They’re not in our district, not in our region, they’re not in our playoff bracket, so right now the wins matter for our playoff contention based on rankings,” Carter-Mitchell said. “So that’s really what I’m trying to tell them. It’s great to have pride and beat these teams, but we need to beat them not just because we want to beat them. We need to beat them for our greater goal, which is to be in the playoffs…We need to at least go 1-1 with Buchholz so we can be in the top eight in the region.”
The Hurricanes (10-10), who are competing in Class 5A-District 3 this year, have losses at 2A No. 5 Trinity Catholic (Ocala), 2A No. 4 Tampa Prep, and a pair of losses to Santa Fe (Alachua), which is ranked No. 11 overall in Florida. GHS was ranked No. 6 in 5A-Region 1 in Tuesday’s rankings.
“We’re still trying to get back into our groove,” Carter-Mitchell said. “We kind of lost our groove, so I feel like we’re kind of in the storming phase. We’re trying to still feel each other out and see what the pieces are going to be on the court. We’re trying to make adjustments every set.”
Buchholz (10-7), which is No. 62 overall in Florida and was also ranked sixth in its region (6A-1), was swept at Santa Fe on Tuesday after falling in five sets at home to the Raiders on Aug. 31.
Their other losses have come to George Jenkins (Lakeland), at nationally ranked Plant (Tampa), the No. 9 overall team in Florida, Trinity Catholic (twice), and 17-0 DeLand, also nationally ranked and No. 7 overall in Florida, on a neutral floor at the JJVA River City Classic.
“I scheduled tough competition because I know that these girls are capable of playing at a high level, and I think we’ve proven to ourselves that we can,” Falck said. “We have had past bad games a few here and there against them, but I think even when we’re playing bad, we’re still hanging with them. When we are playing well, I think it could be a different outcome too.”
Gainesville will travel to Ridgeview (Orange Park) on Monday for a district game, while Buchholz is at Forest (Ocala) that night for a non-district game.
Following the trip to Ocala, Buchholz doesn’t play again until Monday, Oct. 5, which is Senior Night against Bradford (Starke).
“I think it gives us time for us to focus on what we need to do,” Falck said. “I think it will be good for us. Just have a little break and then refocus and again do what we need to do.”
The last regular-season playing date for volleyball is Thursday, Oct. 8, followed by district tournament play the following week.